


The Dread Cat

by andruillest



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Modern Thedas, sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 21:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4935721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andruillest/pseuds/andruillest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lavellan comes home one afternoon with a surprise for Solas--a cat. The elf and the feline struggle to establish dominance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dread Cat

**Author's Note:**

> This was a dumb, cute little thing I wrote after posting this on tumblr:
>
>> modern au where lavellan comes home with a stray cat and the second it sets eyes on solas it just starts hissing
>> 
>> and lavellan looks at him like ???? and he just glares at it and is like “i hate cats. cats hate me”
>> 
>> and the next week is just lavellan happening upon these encounters between solas and this cat where they make eye contact and just stare at each other hatefully until one of them stalks away
> 
> It seemed to be well-received, so I wrote it. Hope y'all enjoy! 

"Solas?" Halani called out to a silent apartment, bumping the door open with her hip. Her hands were full, and she shuffled through the doorway with some difficulty, face split into a giddy grin. "I'm home." She glanced down at the soft, speckled bundle in her arms and added, "I've got a surprise for you."

After a moment, Solas emerged groggily from his study with a blanket draped over his shoulders, rubbing absently at one eye. Lavellan could tell by his disheveledness that he had dozed off while poring over his work; he had a line cutting across his cheek, as though it had been pressed against the edge of a book. She greeted him with a fond smile as he padded across the kitchen tile with bare feet. "Forgive me, _vhenan._ I was--"

He finally seemed to register the feline that Halani (who was positively beaming) was holding out to him, due largely to the fact that it had begun to hiss. Loudly.

Solas jumped, wide awake now, and reeled backward a few steps. His lips pulled back into a scowl--the cat's claws curled, digging lightly into the arm that held it. Halani watched, sobered by her lover's reaction, as the two regarded one another with narrowed eyes and bared teeth.

When he finally spoke, Solas's voice was low, measured, and extremely bitter. "Halani. What...is that?"

Lavellan blinked at him. "It's a cat, Solas."

"I am aware of that fact," he retorted through gritted teeth, eyes fixed firmly on the calico. "What is it doing in our home?"

Halani rolled her eyes and scoffed, shifting the cat in her arms so that its front paws rested on her shoulder. It still glared intently at Solas. "She's been following me on my walk home for the past couple of days," she explained, turning her attention affectionately to the stray as she spoke. "She always looked so hungry, the poor thing--I couldn't just leave her there. Look how thin she is!" Again, Halani thrust the cat his way, earning a hiss from the creature. Solas's only reply was a grimace.

Pulling the cat back to her chest, her brows knit together in confusion. "What is it, Solas?"

"Felines have a tendency to...despise me, quite frankly," Solas muttered, folding his arms across his chest. His nose was wrinkled in disgust, like he had been drinking tea. "I have grown to feel the same about them."

Halani paused. Then, carefully, she lowered the animal to its feet, and it stalked away quietly, casting one last look at Solas before disappearing into the next room. In its absence, Solas visibly relaxed, arms dropping back down to his sides.

"Come on, Solas," Lavellan pleaded. She stepped toward him slowly as she spoke. "You're just a new face to her. She'll grow on you eventually, I'm sure of it." She draped her arms over his shoulders, angling her face up to cast him a hopeful glance through her eyelashes. "Please?"

Solas searched her face solemnly, as though contemplating a Very Big life decision, before deflating in defeat. "Fine," he grumbled, pulling her into his chest, arms circling her waist. He buried his face into her hair and added, "But I am not cleaning up after it."

Lavellan let out a cry of joy, drawing back from the embrace to beam up at her lover. Solas couldn't resist a smile and caught her lips with his after a small shake of his head. Halani returned the kiss gratefully, mumbling a sing-song "I love you" against it before frolicking away. He watched as she went to seek out the bundle of fur in the next room. 

"I had better not regret this," he muttered.

 

In the week following the adoption of the creature that Halani called Arla, Solas learned to keep his doors shut.

The day after, when his lover was out, Solas entered his study to find the thing sprawled lazily over his research; once he had shooed it away, he was left sneezing for the rest of the afternoon from the fur it had left behind.

One morning, Solas retreated to their room after a shower wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and it was just _sitting there_ , like it had been _waiting_ to invade his privacy. Solas sneered at the audacity.

Not to mention the night it had nudged open the bedroom door during a less-than-appropriate time. That instance took the proverbial cake.

Halani always insisted on movie nights every Friday--usually movies they had both seen already that, in the vaguest terms, didn't exactly end up getting _watched_ \--so when the day rolled around, the two of them settled snugly onto the couch.

Solas made to drape an arm around his lover when an aggressive meow halted his limb in midair. It sounded... _protective_.

Cooing at it, Lavellan focused her attention entirely to the cat, scooping it up from the floor and onto her lap. It made itself pointedly comfortable there, curling up after one last defiant hiss. Certain that he was being mocked, Solas folded his arms and sulked.

Lavellan shot him a sidelong glance and looked (much to Solas's annoyance) rather amused with herself. "Something wrong?" she asked coyly.

"No."

If she was attempting to hide the smugness in her voice, she was doing a poor job. "You aren't _jealous_ of Arla, are you?"

He looked sharply at her, then down at the cat. It stared him down, unwavering, and he glared daggers back. "We simply do not get along."

Halani gently moved Arla back to the ground, then shifted over to straddle his lap as she spoke. "Are you always this grumpy?" she mumbled, smirking.

Solas's face flushed. "Yes," he teased, "but you should have known that by now."

He drew in a sharp breath when Halani's teeth were at his ear. She chuckled and Solas's stomach clenched. "I think you need to lighten up."

After a moment, he quickly forgot about the cat.

 

Arla had been around for a while when she padded lightly into the living room one morning. Halani was still asleep, and Solas tensed, sitting bolt upright from his place on the couch. The challenge begun.

This was how all their encounters usually went. Arla's yellow eyes narrowed, Solas's brows furrowed, they would stare. Neither of them dared move an inch, save for Arla's tail flicking menacingly back and forth, until one of them finally turned and stalked away. Halani would usually watch these encounters with tickled fascination; once, she actually went to the kitchen, made popcorn, and returned, all within the duration of the exchange.

Solas noted, however, the differences in his opponent this time. Eyes wide, pupils dilated, tail erect, Arla looked more inquisitive than suspicious. Solas's posture relaxed slightly as a result. Slightly.

Moments passed. The two stared each other down, but this time with a piqued interest from both ends, curious as to what the other would do next.

Finally, Arla took a slow step toward Solas. When he didn't react, she continued the advance, approaching the couch. At last, the cat hopped up onto the end farthest from Solas and sat firmly on the cushion.

His gaze never left the creature, hands tensing at his sides when it appeared beside him. More time went by. More staring.

Then, cautiously, a hand extended, offering itself to the cat.

Arla snuffled at his fingers for a time, testing out the scent up close--then, letting out a rumbling purr, rubbed her forehead gently on his knuckle. The gesture tugged at the corners of Solas's lips, a careful smile spreading itself there.

When Halani gasped from the doorway, Solas and Arla retracted immediately, the latter leaping from the couch to skitter away behind the woman's legs.

Solas's lover approached him, beaming, mouth agape. He rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to speak before she interrupted. "You two weren't _actually_ getting along?"

"No," said Solas, too quickly.

She folded her arms smugly and shifted her weight to her hip. "Mmm-hmm. I knew it. I _knew_ she would grow on you."

Solas scoffed in response and gestured vaguely toward the kitchen. "I already made your coffee," he mumbled, and Halani shook her head fondly, shuffling out of the room.

Inwardly, Solas smiled a little. Opposites coexisting wasn't unheard of. He supposed he could get used to it.


End file.
